The Cardinals looked solid for most of the game, turning a few terrific defensive plays in support of pitcher Joni Russell.

But the Braves put all four runs together in the third inning, capitalizing on some sporadic control issues from Russell and hitting her fastball hard into play.

“One bad inning and we just gave up too many hits in that inning. It just seemed like they hit everything hard at somebody,” THS Coach Shari Dixon said. “They weren’t errors, they were mostly base shots. And the harder it comes in, the harder it goes out.”

Other than that fateful inning, it was a blank slate – aided by a double play on a ball scorched right at shortstop Kristin Bailey that picked a runner off of third base and a quick-thinking fake throw by Kendell Hughes on a ball hit down the line to third. That play, also with a runner on third, allowed Hughes to dive back to the bag and tag out the runner, eliminating the threat.

In between, Holly Alvoid made a great running catch in shallow right field to hold off more potential scoring.

The Cardinals were never able to fully mount a charge offensively, though, and it bit them.

“Right now, we’ve just got to do a better job at the plate. I think we’re still ironing some things out here and there, but this is it. We’ve got to peak soon. We’re almost to May, and we know what May brings,” Dixon said, referring to postseason softball. “We’ve got to put it together better.”

For the game, Hughes was 2 for 4 with a double and Shelby Sheets was 2 for 3.

Triad’s Sidney Louck (left) gets bumped off line by a collision at the plate with Shawnee catcher Alise Moneypenny on Thursday.

https://www.urbanacitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2019/04/web1_SidneyLouck041119.jpgTriad’s Sidney Louck (left) gets bumped off line by a collision at the plate with Shawnee catcher Alise Moneypenny on Thursday.